How to Set Up WiFi Hotspot in Windows 8

By Rahul Sharma / / Windows
WiFi hotspot sign against a blue sky

Last year, my roommate moved out of my apartment and ended up taking our wireless router. I didn’t want to wait for twenty-four hours for Amazon to send me my new router, so I decided to turn my PC into a wireless router (or hotspot). My PC, which was wired directly to my modem, turned out to be a great replacement for my router and allowed me to hook up to the internet via WiFi with my laptop and mobile devices.

There are two ways of turning your Windows 8 PC into a wireless router, and I will walk you through both.

1. Doing It from the Command Prompt

1. Press the “Windows + R” key combination to bring up a run box, type “ncpa.cpl” and hit enter.

PC Router - CMD

2. When your network connections open, right-click on your Wireless network adapter and select “Properties” from the context menu.

PC Router - Wireless Choose

3. Switch over to the “Sharing” tab and allow other devices to use your machine’s Internet by selecting the first checkbox and then unchecking the second before clicking on the OK button.

PC Router - Wifi Options

4. Right-click in the bottom left of your screen to launch an administrative command prompt.

PC Router - Command Prompt Admin

5. The first thing we need to do is set up the wireless network; this is done using the “netsh” command.

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid="How-To " key="Pa$$w0rd"

Where “ssid” is the name of your network and “key” is the password you want users to connect with, it’s also worth mentioning that the access point is created with WPA2-PSK (AES) encryption.

PC Router - Command Prompt Enter 1

6. Now we are ready to start broadcasting our network:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

PC Router - Command Prompt Enter 2

2. Virtual Router Plus

Fortunately, Virtual Router Plus, a free utility that adds WiFi hotspot capabilities to Windows 8, is a much easier alternative to setting up a hotspot through the command prompt.

First off, be really careful during setup. The software is not totally “free,” as the installer comes packed with adware. It’s easy enough to bypass if you pay attention, but potentially troublesome if you don’t.

After you install the program, it’ll pop open a help page in your browser, which you may need to verify whether you have the required device drivers. You can skip that for now; instead, try using the utility.

PC Router - Virtual Router Plus

To do so, give your network a name (e.g. SSID), then enter a password (to keep freeloaders out). Finally, choose the connection you want to share (which is probably whatever appears as the default). Now click “Start Virtual Router Plus.” After a few moments you should be able to detect your new network from your phone, tablet, or even another PC.

Conclusion

Now that you set up your PC to be able to emit wireless Internet, don’t throw out your router! A router is much faster than a PC hotspot. That being said, this is a cool alternative for times when you need wireless Internet in your house but don’t have access to a router.

Image credit: Wifi Hotspot SignBigStockPhoto

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37 comments

  2. when i m trying to do this trick ……..after the last step here is showing the group or resource is not in the state to perform the requested operation

  3. Everytime I use this command netsh wlan start hostednetwork , it shows that the hosted network couldn’t be started. The group or the resources is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation.
    can you help me with this??

    1. Go to Device Manager and check if the Microsoft Hosted Network Adapter is disabled. If yes, enable and try the command again.

      1. Device manager is okey …! but it show the same error
        I use this command “netsh wlan start hostednetwork” , it shows that the hosted network couldn’t be started. The group or the resources is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation.

  5. for the first time i am all done but it altered my IP. then afterwards it asking for resource code. I got the same problem….please help

  6. Great solutions, but of you don’t mind a couple of Windows popping-up on your desktop then connectify (free-version) is a hassle-free solution.

  8. i hve try it. real its wifi hotspot is availavle and local area network is here. but urfotunately i have click done disable option in local area connectio. how can i get back to enale yhis connection.. just give a comment.

  9. Please Tell Me..? That If there is any wrong option we perform by mistake then how to make default window setting..?

  11. Hi! I followed every step in the first part and it apparently worked. But whenever I try to connect, my phone cannot connect. I checked the anti virus setting and also the windows firewall, but no results. What can I do? Thanks

  13. everything goes fine,
    but atlast
    hosted network couldnt be started.
    the wireless local area netwrok interface is powered down 7 doesnt support the requested operation

  14. I have tried to make a USB dongle on the PC a wifi hotspot. The ssid I have put pctataphoton whereas it is TATA PHOTON+. There is no password to it so I have given my password. At the first instance it was showing on the network sharing centre but in the access type showing no internet. The ssid and password did work on the mobile and tab but those were not connected for want of obtaining IP address. When the dongle was reinstalled pctataphoton was not showing in the sharing centre. Please tell me how hotspot could be made possible. Thanks.

  15. how can i remove this setting from cmd which you suggest by commands, please give me reply…urgent

  16. in the 3rd step i can not find find the sharing option in my pc can any one suggest me what to do please?????????????

  19. wanted to connect phone with laptop wifi
    succeed in creating network..
    but on enabling sharing Ethernet ip changes to 192.168.137.1 with subnet mask 255.255.255.00
    Because of this change broadband from Ethernet lose internet connectivity…
    problem is how to solve this problem????
    if enable sharing, internet lost and
    if reset ip of Ethernet to automatic, phone didn’t get response from wifi network.

  20. I got connected to wireless link..
    But I cannot access internet at all..
    Currently I am using Reliance netconnect and have done all steps properly..
    Can anyone suggest anything else?

  21. when i want to select privte network connection then it shows cannot enable shared access
    error 1061:the service cannot accept control messages at this time

  22. every thing works well… but when i connect my mobile to the hotspot its says ”no responding from the use”r..am using windows 8 64bit

  27. i did all this and the hotspot is set up on my windows 8 system but i can not get my phone to connect with the phone despite putting the password. all i was seeing is obtaining ip address

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